1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper conveying device and an image forming device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Examples of image forming devices employing an electrophotography method include a copying device, a facsimile device, a printer, and a printing device. Such an image forming device fixes, on paper, a fixing target image transferred onto and held on the paper as a recording medium, and then outputs the image. The image forming device includes a plurality of conveying paths for conveying paper, one of which is a conveying path for conveying paper having passed through a fixing device to an ejecting unit. When a conveyance failure such as a paper jam occurs on the paper passing through the conveying path, this paper needs to be removed from the conveying path. A known configuration to facilitate this removal allows one of conveying guides disposed facing each other across the conveying path to be swung away from the conveying path so as to open the conveying path (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2013-186287, for example).
For a cost reduction in mold manufacturing, a known configuration includes a bearing part molded separately in an upper-periphery receiving part and a lower-periphery receiving part that are used for supporting a pivot shaft of a conveying guide. With this configuration, however, the upper-periphery receiving part and the lower-periphery receiving part of the bearing part are shifted from each other in the axial direction of the pivot shaft. Thus, when an axial end of the pivot shaft is moved to a position off the lower-periphery receiving part, the pivot shaft is not supported, and the conveying guide potentially falls off. To prevent this fall, another known configuration includes a separation restrictor that restricts the separation of the pivot shaft from the bearing part by contacting the conveying guide from underneath at a position different from a position at which the pivot shaft is supported by the bearing part. In this configuration, the separation restrictor is provided underneath the conveying guide, and contacts the conveying guide when the axial end of the pivot shaft of the conveying guide is shifted from the lower-periphery receiving part of the bearing part, thereby preventing the conveying guide from falling.
The configuration including the separation restrictor described above is effective as long as the conveying guide moves by an angle in the range of an acute angle. When the conveying guide moves by an angle beyond an obtuse angle, however, the separation restrictor and the conveying guide do not contact each other, and the conveying guide falls.
Therefore, there is a need for a paper conveying device capable of preventing a fall of the conveying guide due to a fall of the pivot shaft of the conveying guide off the bearing part.